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Proliferation Parade II: Iranian ‘Stingers’ in Iraq

A few days ago in Proliferation I, the publicly displayed large Iranian ground based missiles.. Now this report from the AFP via Iranfocus detailing how Iranian shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles are being found proliferated in Iraq! This is new, as these things in the hands of terrorists pose a substantial risk to US aircraft & helicopters.

BAGHDAD (AFP) – The US military in Iraq said Sunday it had seized sophisticated Iranian-made surface-to-air missiles that were being used by insurgents in the war-torn country. Several Misagh-1s have been found in different locations, the military said, although it stopped short of saying the use of the weapons represented an escalation of Iranian activity in Iraq. “We’ve said that we’ve found these things, we’ve seen them employed. That’s significant in it’s own right,” US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox told reporters in Baghdad. [...]

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This is significant as the Admiral put it, looking back at Afghanistan in the 80′s the addition of the Stinger missile in the hands of Afghan insurgents helped turn the tide against the Soviets. The missiles devastated their choppers. This is a different conflict, but the addition of this weapon type proliferated by Iran to Iraqi insurgents is crossing a new red line..

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 4 (UPI) — British military intelligence officers and the U.S. commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan say Iran is supplying Taliban fighters with weaponry.

U.S. Army General Dan McNeill, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said more than 50 roadside bombs and timers were discovered by British special forces last month crossing the border in trucks from Iran to Afghanistan, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday. He said the discovery is evidence that Iran’s Quds Revolutionary Guards are providing active support to Taliban militants.

“I cannot see how it is possible for at least the Iranian military, probably the Quds force, to not have known of this convoy,” McNeill said. McNeill said the intercepted trucks contained materials needed to create the same type of explosive devices that U.S. and British forces have accused Iran of supplying to Iraqi insurgents. “This confirms our view that elements within Iran are supporting the Taliban,” a spokesman for the British embassy in Kabul said. “We have previously raised the issue of arms to the Taliban with the Iranians and will continue to do so.”